Gender Differences In Transformational Leadership example essay topic

Leadership is the process of motivating others to work to meet specific goals and objectives. A leader motivates others to action. Thus, it is the motivation of others and their actions that defines a successful leader. In other words, leadership is the art and science of getting others to perform and achieve a vision.

In this study we will examine different aspects of a leader and his duties. Leadership is a concept which consist on many duties and can be picked up by anyone. Leaders often need to make decisions by virtue of their position, which is seen by subordinates as authoritative. Leaders who can bring decision items to the table are perceived as influential. It is crucial that supervisors define their leadership styles clearly to all subordinates. Spreitzer (1997) found a strong correlation between empowerment, vision, and transformational leadership (Spreitzer, Kizilos, & Nason, 1997).

It is clear that leadership style does influence job satisfaction (Jeanquart-Barone, 1996). Glisson and Durnick (1988), for example, found that perceived leadership in an organization was the best predictor of commitment of the workers and job satisfaction. Similarly, Podsakoff, MacKenzie and Bommer (1996) established that transformative leadership was positively related to employee satisfaction and job performance. The effect of leader behavior on employee satisfaction cannot be exaggerated: an estimated 60-75% of employees report that their immediate supervisor is the worst or most stressful aspect of their job (Hollander, 1995). In addition to leadership, other intrinsic and extrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction. Pool (1997) notes five essential dimensions for measuring job satisfaction: the job itself, pay, promotional opportunity, supervisor behaviors, and co-workers.

Intrinsic values of job satisfaction are esteem, job status, recognition, influence in the organization, and pride in working in the organization; extrinsic outcome values are benefits, job security, and satisfaction with pay (Knoop, 1994). Scholars have argued that organizations are gendered (Bog och, 1997) that is to say that men and women experience organizations differently. Rosenthal (1988) considers it essential that the organization in the context of gender. Male and female attorneys (and many other professionals) have different leadership styles (Helgesen, 1990), different self-perceptions of leadership (Mossman, 1988), and different leadership and power resources (Rosenthal, 1998). Males exert more influence than females, are more likely to hold positions of authority at work, and are more likely to achieve powerful positions in the corporate and civic world (Walker, Ilardi, McMahon, & Fennell, 1996). In mixed-gender groups, males are five times more likely than females to exercise opinion leadership.

These gender differences are thought to arise from organizational structure, based on differences in hierarchical influences, rather than being due to innate or socialized gender differences in leadership styles (Lewis & Fagenson-Eland, 1998). Women who tend to be higher in the organizational hierarchy have more masculine traits, while women in lower level jobs are rated as more feminine. Overall, leadership characteristics equate with masculine style, attitude, and experience (Kolb, 1997). However, this relationship may be due less to gender differences than to socialization. Mossman (1988) notes that female attorneys who are leaders become so by adopting male leadership behaviors. Stereotypical feminine leadership styles are detrimental to women (Maher, 1997).

In the legal profession, women become leaders by assimilating male leadership behaviors. Women who want to become leaders in the legal profession must demonstrate that they can provide leadership according to the male model and that the leadership they provide is different from, and superior to, the male model (Mossman, 1988). Men and women also differ in how they adopt leadership roles. Research on emergent leadership has revealed gender-specific outcomes in mixed gender groups (Kolb, 1997). In many cases, women traditionally step aside and relinquish leadership to men. A study of women and men both having high dominant leadership styles show that when these men and women are paired with each other, 90% of the men, but only 20% of the women, assume the leadership role (Mossman, 1988).

Why do we bother to ask the question 'can leadership be taught'? If the answer to our question is 'no, it cannot', then we must fall back on the trait / personality approach to leadership. While the emphasis on virtues such as " physical courage, endurance, mental toughness, adaptability, risk-taking, professional knowledge, communication skills and will to win" (Smith, 1998: 37-39) remain, at the operational level, experience has shown that the real leadership capacity is "intellectual rather than physical" (Smith, 1998: 50). If the answer is 'yes, it can', then we can select and train effective leaders, given that the individual has the requisite intellectual and other necessary abilities.

(This is not to suggest that leadership requires a particularly high level of intelligence, however that may be measured. Discussing recent Presidents of the United States of America, it could be said that 'two of the brainiest presidents were Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter. Both were trained engineers who did well on IQ tests but less well at framing political challenges or appealing to a hostile Congress... Franklin Roosevelt was once slighted by Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes as having a "second class intellect" but a "first-class temperament", which helped FDR lead the country through the Great Depression and World War II... Ronald Reagan was widely lauded as a man secure in his core beliefs and able to lead, and the doubts about his intelligence pale beside his mark on history'.) One of the most important aspects of the leader-follower relationship is the leader's perception of the followers and, in turn, their perception of the leader (Hollander, 1995). Too frequently, the leader's role is seen as power over others rather than as a steward in service to others.

This is particularly important in the case of appointed or elected leaders, who must balance responsibility to the electorate with responsibility to the people they supervise (Lindgren, 1982). The extent to which the leader derives power or authority from subordinates will depend upon the extent to which the group accepts the leader. The extent of power will also depend upon how well the leader is perceived as being able to motivate the followers to achieve group goals (Lindgren, 1982). Every individual working in the team is important and every individual has varied talents and not to mention problems of their own. Knowing the person, understanding the person and identifying the strengths and needs of the individual are vital for the leader in order to be most effective with the person. Morale is operationally defined as a state of physiological well-being based on a sense of confidence, a sense of empowerment, and a sense of purpose.

A related term, job satisfaction, is the degree to which an employee derives morale and exhibits pleasure from the work environment. The effect of leadership and authority on worker's morale and job satisfaction has been well documented for dentists (Kaldenberg, Becker, & Zvonkovic, 1995), community extension agents, library reference workers, teachers, accountants, hospital administrators, public and private sector employees, and numerous other types of professions (Payne, Cangemi, & Fuqua, 1998). Much less has been written about the correlation between job satisfaction and leadership behavior for attorneys, or about the effect that gender has in this relationship. In addition to understanding team members, leaders should also make sure that every team member gets leader's undivided attention. Unfortunately, as a listener, leaders have their own problems to face with. Listeners frequently have too many sound and visual signals reaching them at the same time.

It is difficult for the listener to pay attention to multiple speakers all at once. The Leader should also learn the meaning of the words the speaker is using and if he is unable to understand, he needs to ask questions. This also lets the speaker know that the listener is unable to understand and the listener is paying attention. Leadership is often equated with authority, but a vast difference lies between the two concepts.

For example, we talk about gang leadership, the leader of the free world, the leader of the House, yet in all these cases, we are actually talking about people who are in positions of authority. In order to clarify, one needs to distinguish between leadership and authority. Leadership is the ability to move a group forward, toward a goal, while authority is defined as the legitimate right of a leader to entice, even force, others to do what is considered important. It is possible for someone to lead without having any authority, such as the leader of a voluntary drug rehabilitation program.

Being the person who motivates, implements, and helps the addicts to move toward a goal of a drug free life comes with little authority. The people can leave whenever they want; they do not have to take the leader's advice, and they certainly do not have to do what they are told. But as a results progress is not being made. Similarly, it is possible to lead without followers. Martin Luther King Jr. empowered people in the black community to move forward, toward a goal.

They were not followers but rather individuals who were individual leaders (Lindgren, 1982). This is moral authority. "Leadership involves being as well as doing. Individual styles of leadership may be quite different, yet equally effective".

As conditions and situations change, leaders need to change their styles of leadership. The challenge of the leader is not to follow one leadership style all the time, but to use the leadership style needed by his followers. Leaders should maintain the power or influence of their offices by being kind and knowledgeable. Attorneys and other well-educated, internally motivated employees respond well to transformational leadership (Keller, 1995). According to Keller, transformational leadership is the ability to inspire and intellectually stimulate employees to perform beyond their normal expectations and personal self-interest to achieve challenging group goals. Transformational leaders articulate a vision, use non-traditional thinking, encourage individual development, give regular feedback, use participative decision-making, and promote a cooperative and trusting work environment (Carless, 1998).

Transformational leadership is value-added: both leader and followers share vision and common higher-order goals (Sergiovanni, 1990). In transformational leadership, "followers feel trust and respect toward the leader and are motivated to do more than they are expected to do" (Podsakoff, MacKenzie, & Bommer, 1996, p. 1). Transformational leadership involves collaboration, interpersonal relationships, and participatory management style, characteristics typically associated with feminine leadership. Women leaders are often viewed as being more transformational in both organizational and nontraditional contexts by male and female subordinates (Maher, 1997). While this may relate to the stereotype of women as being more relationship-oriented and thus more trans formative, Maher found no significant differences between female and male managers on either transformational or transaction leadership (Maher). Attorneys are often considered as leaders by nature of their education and training, using technical-rational authority (Sergiovanni, 1990) as befits their status as experts in the law (Lindgren, 1982).

Keller (1995) notes a tendency to place scientists, engineers, and other experts into leadership positions based more on technical skills than on interpersonal and leadership skills. However, this type of leadership relies on bureaucratic and technical-rational authority, not moral or professional authority; thus the leaders may be transactional, but not transformational (Sergiovanni, 1992). The primary objective of being the leader would be to recognize the qualities necessary for a leader to be successful. Leader should be able to recognize various leadership styles and understand when each would be appropriate. "Sometimes leaders will have to follow their group member and in some situations. The good leaders will appreciate the leadership in others while serving the role of a follower.

The leader must not consider himself locked into a style of leadership with any individual or group. To avoid problems leaders should always act accordingly and change leadership skills depending on the situation and need. At the same time leader should be confident enough to be able to deal with the new skills. In this paper we have attempted to examine what leadership consists of. The leadership principles mentioned in this paper are just a simple guideline for anyone interested in learning about leadership; however, a good leader does not require any guidelines. A good leader inherits leadership qualities by experience of leadership abilities and characteristics from their own life.

Proper Leadership skills are highly essential for a manager as well as the company or organization to become successful. In addition, we have considered leadership from a masculine point of view. As more women attain leadership roles within organizations, there has been an increase in research comparing the similarities and differences between men and women in leadership roles. The overall view is that women are as effective as men in leadership positions, and have the same potential to develop as leaders.

Their success in certain situations may be due to their possessing more Emotional Intelligence than their male counterparts. Leadership is the lifting of a person's vision to higher sights, the raising of their performance to a higher standard, the building of a person's personality beyond its normal limitations'. Leadership can be taught, and leadership can be learned, but despite the fact that leadership is difficult to define, it can be understood as a number of basic concepts, and it consist of many different traits in human nature. Reference Brooch, B. Gendered. "Lawyering: Difference and dominance in lawyer client interaction".

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